One Year in the Yakima Valley

Before we get all excited about harvest and crush in September, here is a snapshot of our year in the Yakima Valley, verbiage courtesy of a rediscovered vintage Visitor's Center brochure.

Spring, First Signs 

 

IN THE VINEYARD: Buds begin to swell, budbreak, and the vines begin to show the new season’s green. Cover crop and grasses begin to grow and surrounding orchards bloom.

IN THE CELLAR: Bottling wines for summer wine releases (fresh and fruity white wines, dry roses) and young reds for fall release. Warmer temperatures encourage the red wine barrels to complete their secondary, or “malolactic” fermentation.

Summer, Grow Grow Grow

 

IN THE VINEYARD: Vines flower and their delicate scent perfumes the air. Grape clusters “set” and begin to show this vintage’s crop. Winemakers take advantage of the warm weather to check out the upcoming crop in the vineyard.

Red grapes color up after going through “Veraison” and begin to soften and build grape sugars. Toward the end of the summer, the varietal flavors are apparent and sampling for harvest maturity begins.

Fall, The Action Begins

 

IN THE VINEYARD: Harvest begins! The entire year’s crop will be harvested between September and November. If you’re lucky, you can see some of the activity and share in the excitement of a new vintage.

IN THE CELLAR: Fermentation turns the cellar into its own “aroma-therapy” center. Yeasty, fruity and delicious aromas are everywhere.

 

Winter, Peace & Quiet

IN THE VINEYARD: Frost generally drops the last leaves off the vines, and they descent into dormancy for the winter. The bare vine architecture is in stark contrast to the way they looked in mid-summer with lush, green leaves.

Crushin'

CRUSH (n.)
1. During harvest season when the grapes are picked then crushed or squeezed for juice.
2. A painful experience, very common among middle schoolers, that involves being obsessed with a member of the opposite sex for any length of time; also, the object of this affection.

Whether you are in winemaking or the throes of unrequited middle school love, crush is upon us. In honor of such an occasion (which on the wine farm happens once annually, and in the alternative scenario ad infinitum) – we thought we’d throw together an index of wine tasting terms applicable to both wine glass and love interest. Read on and share our childlike enthusiasm for imagining our honeyboo boo childs through wine terminology:

SUBTLE (adj.)
Delicate or slightly mysterious, difficult to perceive or understand, subtlety is an art form.
YOUR WINE: Possessing finesse, flavors that are understated rather than full-blown or overt.

AGGRESSIVE (adj.)
Making an all-out effort to succeed, being boldly assertive and confidently self-assured, IN IT TO WIN IT.
YOUR WINE: Harsh or pronounced in taste or texture, usually due to a high level of acid or tannin.

FORWARD (adj.)
Direct, honest, and upfront: usually the way you are not when it comes to crushing.
YOUR WINE: Having bold, easily distinguishable flavors. Matured to the ideal age, having reached its full flavor potential realized. (…but how great does that sound?)

with nice LEGS (n.)
The viscous droplets that form and ease down the sides of the glass when the wine is swirled—indicating fullness. Alternatively, sexy when tanned.

… and avoid those which are NUTTY, MUSTY, BITTER or BLUNT. And don’t come crying to us if you don’t take that advice.

Harvest, Harvest, Harvest

Harvest is moving along. Things are moving remarkably quickly at this point. At this rate we should be done more than two weeks early.

We spent all weekend picking and crushing and after a long Friday night (literally all night) and few technical difficulties we got our new destemming and auger feed equipment dialed in (at least we hope so becasue I have to put in any more 28 hour days I might end up calling immigration on myself for the free ride to Mexico and never come back).

This weekend we picked Syrah and Riesling. On deck for this week is more Syrah, more Riesling, Cab Franc, Merlot and Malbec and maybe even some Cab from a light set hot site. The question of the year is where the hell are we going to put all this fruit? It might be time to clean out the garbage cans and tuperware (is that how you spell that?) and anything else that could possibly hold grapes for fermentation.

Oh yeah, the picture is from sunrise on Saturday morning while STILL crushing.

And It Starts...

Harvest is officially upon us. We are picking Chardonnay and Riesling from Copeland and Rousanne, Viognier, the remainder of the Semillion and Syrah from Dineen and have Merlot and Gurty coming from other sites all by Friday. My favorite day of the year is finally here. Harvest!!!

Will keep you posted on how harvest goes as it unfolds. Pictures and videos of harvest to come.